Events

January– March

January 1 January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in the Gregorian Calendar; 364 days remain until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. __TOC__ Events ...

– The foundation of Fort George, Bombay is laid by Colonel Keating, principal engineer, on the site of the former Dongri Fort. *

February 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. * 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), ...

–

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

's home at Shadwell, Virginia is destroyed by fire, along with most of his books. *

February 14 It is observed in most countries as Valentine's Day. Events Pre-1600 * 748 – Abbasid Revolution#Persian phase, Abbasid Revolution: The Kaysanites Shia#History, Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad ...

– Scottish explorer James Bruce arrives at Gondar, capital of Abyssinia (modern-day

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

) and is received by the Emperor Tekle Haymanot II and Ras Mikael Sehul. * February 22 – Christopher Seider, an 11-year-old boy in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in the British Province of Massachusetts Bay, is shot and killed by a colonial official, Ebenezer Richardson. The funeral sets off anti-British protests that lead to the massacre days later. * March 5 – Boston Massacre: Eleven American men are shot (five fatally) by British troops, in an event that helps start the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

five years later. * March 21 – King Prithvi Narayan Shah shifts to the newly constructed Basantapur Palace, in the capital Kathmandu, as the first King of the Unified Kingdom of Nepal. * March 26 – First voyage of James Cook: English explorer Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

and his crew aboard complete the circumnavigation of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

April–June

* April 12 – The Townshend Acts are repealed by Britain's Parliament by the efforts of Prime Minister Frederick North, with the exception of the increased duties on imported tea. The American colonists, in turn, stop their embargo on British imports.Gordon Carruth, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates'' 3rd Edition (Thomas Y. Crowell, 1962) pp78-79 * April 18 ( April 19 by Cook's log) 18:00 – First voyage of James Cook: English explorer Captain

and his crew become the first recorded Europeans to encounter the eastern coastline of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n continent. Land is sighted at Point Hicks, and named after Lieutenant Hicks who first observes landform at 6am. * April 20 – Battle of Aspindza: Georgian king Erekle II defeats the Ottoman forces, despite being abandoned by an ally, Russian General Totleben. * April 29 – First voyage of James Cook: Captain Cook drops anchor on in a wide bay, about 16 km (10 mi) south of the present city of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. Because the young

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

on board the ship,

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

, discovers 30,000 specimens of plant life in the area, 1,600 of them unknown to European science, Cook names the place Botany Bay on May 7. * May 16 – 14-year-old Marie Antoinette of Austria marries Louis-Auguste (who in 1774 becomes King Louis XVI of France) at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. * May 20 – A stampede at a celebration of the newly wedded Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste in Paris kills more than a hundred people. * June 3 ** Gaspar de Portolà and Father Junípero Serra establish Monterey, the ''presidio'' of

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

territory for Spain from 1777– 1822, United Mexican States

1824 Events January–March * January 1 – John Stuart Mill begins publication of The Westminster Review. The first article is by William Johnson Fox * January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of th ...

– 1846, until the California Republic. **The 7.5 Port-au-Prince earthquake affects the French colony of Saint-Domingue with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''), killing 250 or more. * June 9 – Falklands Crisis (1770): Some 1,600 Spanish marines, sent by the Spanish governor of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in five frigates, seize Port Egmont in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. The small British force present promptly surrenders. * June 11 – First voyage of James Cook: grounds on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

July– September

* July 1 – Lexell's Comet (D/1770 L1) passes the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

at a distance of , the closest approach by a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

in recorded history. * July 5 – Battle of Chesma and Battle of Larga: The

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

defeats the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in both battles. When the news of the defeat reaches the Ottoman city of Smyrna ( July 8), the crowd attacks the Greek community of the city (perceived as favourable to the Russian cause) and kills an estimated 200 Greeks and three Western Europeans (although some reports estimate the number of victims at 3,000 or even 5,000 including "3 or 4 thousands who die due to the fright"). * August 1 (July 21 O.S.) – Russo-Turkish War (1768–74) – Battle of Kagul: Russian commander Pyotr Rumyantsev routs 150,000 Turks. * August 22 ( August 23 by Cook's log) – First voyage of James Cook: Captain Cook determines that New Holland (Australia) is not contiguous with

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, and claims the whole of its eastern coast for Great Britain, later naming it all

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. * c. September – Johann Gottfried Herder meets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. * September 24 – In Hillsborough, North Carolina, the Regulator Movement riots against local authorities.

October–December

* October 11 – Phillis Wheatley becomes the first African American woman to have her work published, after having written a poetic elegy to the late Reverend George Whitefield. * November 14 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile. * December 7 – King Louis XV of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

issues the "Edict of December", dismissing the rebellious magistrates of the Parlements of Paris and the other 13 provinces. * December 24 –

's Secretary of the Navy, César Gabriel de Choiseul, is dismissed from his position by the king.

Date unknown

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

, English

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

, recommends the use of a rubber eraser to remove pencil marks. *

Joseph-Louis Lagrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaBachet's conjecture. * The Baron d'Holbach's (anonymous) materialist work '' Le Système de la Nature ou Des Loix du Monde Physique et du Monde Moral'' is produced in Neuchâtel. * The last Cuman to speak the Cuman language () dies in Hungary.

Births

February 21 Events Pre-1600 * 452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine. * 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery. * 1440 – The ...

– Georges Mouton, Marshal of France (d. 1838) *

March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost ...

– Louis-Gabriel Suchet, Marshal of France (d. 1826) * March 20 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German writer (d. 1843) * April 3 – Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greek general (d. 1843) * April 7 – William Wordsworth, English poet (d. 1850) * April 8 – John Campbell, Australian public servant, politician (d. 1830) * April 11 – George Canning, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1827) * April 25 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist (d. 1850) * April 30 – David Thompson, English-Canadian explorer (d. 1857) *

May 10 Events Pre-1600 * 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China. * 1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of ...

– Louis-Nicolas Davout, Marshal of France (d. 1823) * May 15 – Ezekiel Hart, Canadian entrepreneur, politician (d. 1843) * May 27 – Ignaz Döllinger, German anatomist, physiologist (d. 1841) * May 29 – Charles Adams, second son of President John Adams (1735–1826) (d. 1800) *

June 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king of Castile and León. * 1298 – Residents of Riga and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the Livonian Order in the Battle of Turaida. * 1495 – A monk, John Cor, rec ...

– Friedrich Laun, German author (d. 1849)

* June 3 – Manuel Belgrano, Argentine politician, general in the Independence War (d. 1820) * June 4 – Eleonora Charlotta d'Albedyhll, Swedish countess, poet and salon holder (d. 1835) * June 7 –

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister ...

, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d.

1828 Events January–March * January 4 – Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, Comte de Villèle, as Prime Minister of France. * January 8 – The Democratic Party of the United States is organiz ...

) *

June 20 Events Pre-1600 * 451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory. * 1180 – First Battle of Uji, startin ...

– Moses Waddel, American educator/ minister and bestselling author (d. 1840) * August 1 – William Clark, American explorer, Governor of Missouri Territory, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs (d. 1838) * August 3 – King

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...

(d. 1840) * August 18 – Dorothea von Rodde-Schlözer, German scholar (d. 1825) Hegel portrait by Schlesinger 1831

* August 27 –

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and t ...

, German philosopher (d. 1831) * October 10 – Adam Johann von Krusenstern, Baltic German explorer who led the First Russian circumnavigation (d. 1846) * October 18 – Thomas Phillips, English painter (d. 1845) * November 5 – Sarah Guppy, English inventor (d. 1852) * November 19 – Bertel Thorvaldsen, Danish-Icelandic sculptor (d. 1844)

* December 17 ''(bapt.)'' –

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, German classical composer (d. 1827) * December 18 – Nicolas Joseph Maison, Marshal of France, Minister of War (d. 1840)

Deaths

January 7 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – The Senate of the Roman Republic, Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army, prompting the tribunes who support him to flee to where Caesar is waiting in Ravenna ...

– Carl Gustaf Tessin, Swedish politician (b. 1695) *

January 8 Events Pre-1600 * 307 – Emperor Huai of Jin, Sima Chi becomes emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty in succession to his brother, Emperor Hui of Jin, Sima Zhong, despite a challenge from his other brother, Sima Ying. * 871 ...

– John Michael Rysbrack, Flemish sculptor (b. 1694) *

January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. *1156 – Finnish peasant Lalli kills English clergyman Henry (bishop of Finland), Henry, the Bishop of Turku, on the ice of Köyliönjärvi, Lake Köyli� ...

– Charles Yorke, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1722) *

January 27 Events Pre-1600 * 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor. * 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the ...

– Johann Karl Philipp von Cobenzl, 18th-century politician (b. 1712) *

January 30 Events Pre-1600 * 1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. * 1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 * 1607 – An es ...

– Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis, Maltese linguist, historian and cleric (b. 1712) *

– Philippe Macquer, French historian (b. 1720) * February 26 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer, violinist (b. 1692) * March 5 – Crispus Attucks, African-American dockworker, first to die in the Boston Massacre (b. 1723) * March 27 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Venetian artist (b. 1696) * April 27 – José Solís Folch de Cardona, Spanish colonial governor (b. 1716) * April 25 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French abbot, physicist (b. 1700) * May 30 – François Boucher, French painter (b. 1703) *

June 22 Events Pre-1600 *217 BC – Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. *168 BC – Battle of Pydna: Roman Republic, Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, Luciu ...

– Philip Carteret Webb, English barrister (b. 1702) * June 23 – Mark Akenside, English poet, physician (b. 1721) * July 17 – Joseph Paris Duverney, French banker (b. 1684) * July 21 – Charlotta Frölich, Swedish agronomist (b. 1698) * July 27 – Robert Dinwiddie, British colonial Governor of Virginia (b. 1693) * August 15 – Edward Antill (colonial politician), American winemaker (b. 1701) * August 24 – Thomas Chatterton, English poet (b. 1752) * September 2 – Hongzhou, Manchu prince of the Qing Dynasty (b. 1712) * September 9 – Bernhard Siegfried Albinus, German anatomist (b. 1697) * September 22 – Ignatius of Santhià, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1686) * September 30 ** George Whitefield, English-born Methodist leader (b. 1714) ** Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, English politician and diplomat (b. c. 1695) * October 14 – Benning Wentworth, colonial governor of New Hampshire (b. 1696) * October 18 – John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721) * October 24 – William Bartram, American scientist and politician (b. 1711) * November 9 – John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll, Scottish politician (b. c. 1693) * November 13 – George Grenville, Prime Minister of Great Britain (b. 1712) * November 24 – Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian (b. 1685) * December 4 – John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, Irish politician (b. 1711) * December 5 – James Stirling, Scottish mathematician (b. 1692) * December 6 – Neri Maria Corsini, Italian Catholic priest and cardinal (b. 1685)